Let's Get Messy!

I recently reviewed two books that are full of wonderful ideas for getting messy and having fun! These activities would be great for all ages, including school age children.

Both written by Nancy Blakey, the titles are: Lotions, Potions, and Slime: Mudpies and More and The Mudpies Activity Book: Recipes for Invention. Many of the activities would be good to do outside, but they could be used inside on rainy days.

Most children love messy activities, but children who have sensory issues may need to have the activities adapted by using gloves, wooden spoons, or other modifications.

Bubble Solution: The sheer volume of this recipe contributes to the fun of blowing bubbles! You’ll need 12 cups cold water, 1 cup liquid dish soap, 2 ounces glycerin (available from you pharmacy)

Pour the water into an empty one gallon container. Add the dish soap and glycerin, and shake gently to mix. Try blowing bubbles using foam cups with a pencil hole poked into the bottom, six pack rings, wire hangers bent into circles, jar lid rings, plastic berry baskets, or funnels.

Nest Pickings: What makes a nest? The children will be so surprised! Supplies: Onion bag, or any wide-webbed bag, wire hanger, foil, feathers, leaves, straw, yarn ,cotton, small twigs, moss, or strips of fabric.

Have your child pull the hanger into a diamond shape. Cut a small hole a the top of an onion bag for the top of the hanger to slip through, and let the children weave the nest pickings into the webbing of the bag in any configuration. Hang it outdoors in the spring and watch the birds choose their nest materials. Small groups of children could work together, and several could be hanging in the yard. What fun it will be to watch the birds create their nests from found materials!

Oobleck: Read the Dr. Seuss Book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck to the children, and then make Oobleck together.

You’ll need 1 box (1 lb.) cornstarch, 1½ cups cold water, 1 tablespoon food coloring, a plastic dish pan or a big bowl.

Mix the ingredients in the container with your hands until mixture is smooth.
Once it’s made, have kids try this: Squeeze the Oobleck in your fist. Now open up your hand. Draw a finger down the center of the solution in the tub. Pound on the Oobleck, then touch it gently with your palm. What happens?

If you touch Oobleck gently, it is soft and yielding like liquid. When you squeeze it or pound it quickly, it is hard and crumbly. Why? Cornstarch is ground up into such fine particles that the molecules line up like little plates. When you pound the Oobleck, the cornstarch plates are rigid. The kids will have so much fun with this mixture!

Sources:

Blakely, N. (1994) Lotions, Potions, and Slime: Mudpies and More! Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Blakely, N. (1994) The Mudpies Activity Book: Recipes for Invention. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Written by Pam Raffurty, Director